Simbri nominal morphology

Features of the noun
Simbri nouns are either uncountable, or mark three numbers: singular, dual and plural.

In addition, they belong to one of eight word classes. The usual convention is to represent these using capital laters: A, B, C, ... to H.

The class distinction is partly semantic: all animates nouns belong to class A. Class B nouns are uncountable. Classes C, D, E, F, and H are determined morphologically, according to the last phoneme or the last two phonemes of the nouns, though they tend to be associated with a specific semantic fields. Class G is an exception among inanimates, as it regroups all nouns referring to natural features.

Nouns are in addition marked for possession, and have a specific attributive form.

The dual
The dual is used when two objects or people are meant. mores

mor-es

people-DU

'two people'

darje

dar-je

knife-DU

'two knives' The dual is required with the numeral me, two: me darje

me dar-je

two knife-DU

'two knives' The use of the dual extends to any small quantities when no numeral or quantifier is given. It is, essentially, equivalent to 'two or three' or 'a few'. sād-em

house-DU

'two or three houses' issaw-e

old-DU

'a few old people' Natural pairs use the dual: xewem

xew-em

eye-DU

'both eyes' tletlome

tle-tlom-e

CL.1-foot-DUAL

'both feet'

The plural
The plural is, straightforwardly enough, used when more than two people or things are meant. moris

mor-is

people-PL

'people' darji

dar-ji

knife-PL

'knives'

The plural is required after any quantifier, including monyar 'a few' monyar sādin

monyar sād-in

a.few house-PL

'a few houses' It's also required after any numeral higher than two: kecca moris min ben kādaš

kecca mor-is min ben kād-aš

four people-PL and three donkey-PL

four people and four donkeys

Verbal agreement
Verbs agree with their subject in number. Jechi ben kādaš

jech\i ben kād-aš

run-PL three donkey-PL

'Three donkeys are running.' Isen mores

is\en mor-es

sleep\DU people-DU

'Two people are sleeping' Subject number is marked by vowel change. The dual is marked by changing the last vowel to e; the plural by changing the last vowel to i


 * Singular ison 'he sleeps', plural isen 'they both sleep', plural isin 'they sleep'
 * Singular jecha 'he runs', dual jeche 'they both run', plural jechi 'they run'

They also agree with their direct object in noun class; this is marked by a noun class prefix: tle-šowō kādas

A-see donkey.

'He sees a donkey' došowō amnām

do-šowō sādor

1-F-see plow

'He sees a plow' kādaš, is an animate (class A) noun and requires the class A prefix ''tle-. sādor, a class F noun requires the class E prefix ā-''

The verb does not agree in number with its object: ''Tle-šowō kād-as. Tle-šowō kād-is. Tle-šowō kād-aš.''

A-see donkey. A-see donkey-DU. A-see donkey-PL

'He sees a donkey. He sees two donkeys. He sees donkeys. '

Class merging
However, certain nouns change class in the dual or the plural, and the plural changes accordingly.

Class F, for instance, has no plural, merging instead with class E.

sādor, 'house' belongs to class F in the singular. But its dual, sadem and plural, sadin belong to class E instead and the verb prefix changes accordingly: ''do-šowō sādor. ā-šowō sād-em. ā-šowō sād-in.''

F-see house / E-see house-DU / E-see house-DU.

'he sees a house' / 'he sees two houses' / 'he sees houses'

Attributives
Simbri has no distinct class of adjectives. Any noun, instead can be placed in its attribute form, which agrees with the modified noun in class and number.

The attributive is formed in the following manner:
 * The last vowel of the noun is deleted:
 * tlayin → tlayn-
 * nandō →nand-
 * baskar →baskr-
 * Then the class suffix, corresponding to the noun class of the modified noun, is applied:
 * mawa is class A, the class A suffix -i is added: tlayn-i 'of the city'
 * sādor belongs to class F; the class F suffix -on is added: nandon 'of the mountains'

The noun class suffix is directly added to monosyllabic nouns, such as bon, with no syncope:

Some examples are given below, with the modifier in bold.
 * bon + class E suffix (boyam, sword belongs to that class)→ bonām

The construction is often equivalent to an adjective:


 * šalli, 'beautiful, a beautiful person' → sādor šallon 'a beautiful house'
 * dopā 'full, complete, completeness' → qatsō dopō 'a full meal'

It may be translated to the English construction 'X of Y', 'X for Y', 'X from Y'


 * mawa 'child' + tlayin 'city' →mawa tlayni' a child from the city'
 * nandō 'mountain' + sādor 'house' → sādor nandon 'a house in the mountains'
 * bon 'king' + boyam 'sword' →boyam bonām 'a sword for the king'
 * moror 'animal' + baskar 'tree' →moror baskri 'an animal of/in the trees

Plural agreement
Modifiers agree in number with the noun they modify: mawa tlayn-i →mawi tlayn-im

child city-A →child-PL city-A.PL

'A child from the city' →'Children from the city' boyam bonām → boyin bonin

sword king-E →sword-PL king-E.PL

'A sword for the king' →'Swords for the king' As we've seen, some noun class merge in the dual or the plural; for instance class F nouns switch to class E in the plural.

Accordingly, modifiers will switch to class E: sādor nand-on →sādem nand-em

house mountain-F→house-DU mountain-E.DU

'A house in the mountain' → 'Two houses in the mountain'

Possession
Possession is marked on the possessed noun with a prefix.

The prefix used is identical to that used for object marking on the verb. tlesādor sawāttlas

tle-sādor sa-wāttlas

A-house 1.OBL-grandfather

'My grandfather's house' lit. 'his-house my-grandfather' sa-šowō

sa-šowō

1.OBL-see

'He sees me.'

tlešowō an moris sawāttlas

tlešowō an moris sawāttlas

3-A-see that person 1.OBL-grandfather

'That man sees my grandfather.'

In the first and second persons, the prefixes are as follows:

wiwomaa 'my grandmother, our grandmother'

yimomon 'your province' There's no number distinction in the prefixes: wiwomaa means either 'my grandmother (not yours)' or 'our grandmother ( not yours)' When the listener is included, the inclusive prefix sa- must be used: sabon 'our (common) king'.

The long form is used before a consonant ; the short form is used before a vowel: sawāttlas, sōrsa

sa-wāttlas / s-ōrsa

1.OBL-grandfather / 1.OBL-uncle

'my grandfather', 'my uncle'

In the third person, class agreement prefixes are used. These are, again, the same used for object marking on the verb. dobonya sande

do-bonya sande

F-gate city

'The city's gates.' došowō sande

do-šowō sande

F-see city

'He sees the city.'

Noun classes
The nominal class system consists of 8 classes for singular nouns; the system is reduced to five classes in the dual and plural.

The system is mostly based on semantics for animates nouns and mostly based on morphology for inanimates.

For instance:


 * moris 'human being' belongs to class A (animates) on the basis of its semantics.
 * ollis 'apple' belongs to class C on the basis of its ending -is
 * kādas 'donkey' is animate and in class A.
 * wasas 'valley' is inanimate and ends in -as. It belongs to class G

Animate nouns
The following nouns are considered animate:


 * any noun referring to human beings:
 * moris, 'person'
 * noyecham, 'host, someone giving hospitality'
 * wisi, 'woman'
 * animals:
 * qowtas 'goat'
 * nonyatl 'mountain lion'
 * kekki 'snake'
 * trees (but not other plants):
 * qenyar 'maple'
 * baskar 'tree"
 * supernatural beings:
 * isi 'god'

Monosyllabic nouns
Most Simbri nouns are words of two syllables or more. There is, however, a number of monosyllabic nouns. Most of these nouns happen to be animate.

The dual of monosyllabic nouns is formed by suffixing -e. The plural is formed by suffixing -i:


 * bon 'king' → dual bone 'two kings' →  plural boni 'kings'
 * mas 'dog' → dual mase 'two dogs' → plural masi 'dogs'
 * jim 'family' → dual jime 'two families' → plural jimi 'families'

Kinship terms always occur in the possessed form: a possessive prefix is necessarily present. Not counting the possessive prefix, many of these are monosyllabic, and form the plural by suffixing -e or -i:


 * tlemā 'mother' → dual tlemāe → plural tlemāi
 * tleššō 'sibling of the opposite sex' → dual tleššōe →  plural tleššōi
 * tlesās 'sibling of the same sex' → dual tlesāse → plural tlesāsi

Animates nouns ending in -i
Animate nouns ending with the vowel -i in the singular form the dual by replacing the final by -e in the dual and -im in the plural:


 * wisi 'woman' → dual wise → plural wisim
 * isi 'god' → dual ise→ plural isim
 * issawi 'old' → dual isawe→ plural isawim
 * noyi 'stranger' → dual noye → plural noyim

Animate nouns ending in -as


Animate nouns ending in -as form the dual by replacing -as with -is. The plural is formed by replacing -as with -oš

''
 * tleātlas 'father' → dual tleātlis → plural tleātloš
 * qowtas 'goat' → dual qowtis → plural qowtoš
 * ennas 'clever' ''→ dual ennis→ plural ennoš

Other animates
For animates ending neither in -as nor in -i, the dual is formed by changing the last vowel to -e and the plural by changing the last vowel to -i:


 * tosaq 'foreigner' → dual toseq→ plural tosiq
 * tlōrsa 'uncle' → dual tlōrse → plural tlōrsi
 * meron 'baker' → dual meren → plural merin

In a number of cases, the last vowel (in the singular) is e. These nouns have identical singular and dual forms:


 * qabne 'poor' → dual qabne→ plural qabni
 * aner 'cook' → dual aner → plural anir

If the last vowel (in the singular) is -i, the noun simply has identical singular and plural forms:


 * moris 'human being' → dual mores → plural moris
 * bosin 'peccary' → dual bosen → plural bosin

Agreement prefixes
The agreement prefix is tle- (short form tl-): tlesādor tle-sādor

A-house

'their house' watlsowō

wa-tl-šowō

1-A-see

'I see them'

An alternate agreement prefix -me- (short form m-) is used for disambiguation: tlōrsa min morsa

tl-ōrsa min m-orsa

A-uncle and A'-uncle

his uncle and his (someone else's) uncle dosowō s-ōrsa mesādo

do-sowō s-ōrsa me-sādor

F-see my-uncle A'-house

My uncle saw his (someone else's house).

sōrsa tlesowō / mesowō sōrsa

s-ōrsa tle-sowō / s-ōrsa me-sowō

my-uncle A-see / A'-see my-uncle

'My uncle sees him' / 'He sees my uncle'

Class B
Class B nouns end in -o,-ō,-ca or -car:


 * oro, grain
 * domō, tax
 * micca, beer
 * socar, tobacco

Two monosyllabic nouns belong to class B as well: wa 'water' and tlam 'gold.'

Generally, Class B nouns refer to food, liquids, various substances; they are always uncountable.

As uncountables, class B nouns have no dual or plural.

The agreement prefix is o- (long form), c- (short form): cawen oro

c-awen oro

B-sow grain

'he sows grain'

ominder micca

o-minder micca

B-like beer

'they like beer'

The agreement suffix is -ō: micca lamō

micca lam-ō

beer good-B

'good beer'

Class C
Class C nouns end in -is or in -eš:


 * ollis 'apple'
 * dareš 'shard'
 * anris 'bottle'
 * pamreš 'bow'
 * liseš 'leaf'

Class C nouns generally refer to relatively small items, that can be handled. There are numerous exceptions, such as xissis 'marriage', qarqastis 'flattery.'

The dual of class C nouns is in -es, and the plural in -iš:


 * ollis → dual olles → plural olliš
 * xissis → dual xisses → plural xissiš
 * pamreš → dual pamres → plural pamriš

The agreement prefix is ši-, short form š-.

The agreement suffix is -is, with a dual -es and a plural -iš: xissis lamis / xisses lames / xissiš lamiš

xissis lam-is / xiss-es lam-es / xiss-iš lam-iš

marriage good-C / marriage-DU good-C.DU

'A good marriage' / 'Two good marriages' / 'Good marriages'

Class D
Class D nouns end in -ja, -ne or -en:


 * darja 'knife'
 * šone 'gadfly'
 * omen 'brome grass stalk'
 * atlen 'spider'

This class covers several semantic fields, notably cutting tools, long thin objects, insects and arachnids. There are again many exceptions, for instance nine 'breast'.

Class D nouns in -ja form their dual in -je and their plural in -ji:


 * darja→ dual darje→ plural darji

Nouns in -ne form their dual in -mi and their plural in -ni:


 * šone → dual šomi → plural šoni

Nouns in -en form their dual in -em and their plural in -in:


 * atlen→ dual atlem→ plural atlin

The agreement prefix is ne-, short form n-.

The agreement suffix is -en (dual -em, plural -in.)

Class E
Class E nouns end in -am or -ām:


 * boyam, sword
 * danām, table
 * amnām, plow

Generally this class covers bulky objects, such as heavy tools or furniture. There are counter-examples, for instance boyam 'sword', or komām 'light.'

The agreement prefix is ā- (no distinct short and long forms); the agreement suffix is -ām.

Class F nouns.
Class F nouns end in -on or -or:


 * qayon, 'temple'
 * sādor 'house'
 * yeymon 'barn'

Prototypically, class F nouns refer to buildings. Exceptions include tlenon, 'nose', baror 'trial.'

The agreement prefix is do- (no distinct short and long forms); the agreement suffix is -on.

Dual and plural
Both classes merge in the dual and the plural. More precisely, the dual and plural of class F nouns switch to class E.

The dual and plural are formed in -em, -in. The agreement prefix is, as expected for class E, ā-. The dual and plural form of the agreement suffix are -em, -in.

Compare the singular: ''Waāsowō šallām danām. Wadosowō sādor danon.''

''wa-ā-sowō šall-ām danām. Wa-do-sowō sādor dan-on.''

1-E-see table beautiful-E / 1-F-see house beautiful-F

'I see a beautiful table.' / 'I see a beautiful house.' With dual and plural: ''Waāsowō šallem danem. Waāsowō šallin danin. Waāsowō sādem danem. Waāsowō sādin danin.''

wa-ā-sowō šall-em dan-em / wa-ā-sowō šall-im dan-im / wa-ā-sowō sādem dan-em / wa-ā-sowō sādin dan-in

1-E-see table-DU beautiful-E.DU / 1-E-see table-PL beautiful-E.PL / 1-E-see house-E.DU beautiful-E.DU / 1-F-see house-F.DU beautiful-F.DU

'I see two beautiful tables' / 'I see beautiful tables' / 'I see two beautiful houses' / 'I see beautiful houses'

Class E-F monosyllabic nouns.
Two monosyllabic nouns belong to class E: pa 'chair', xan 'fence, hedge'.

The monosyllabic noun ma 'pyramid, temple' belongs to class F.

In all these cases, the dual and plural are formed by suffixing -em, -in. The plural and dual belong to class E.


 * pa → dual paem → plural pain
 * xan → dual xanem → plural xanin
 * ma → dual maem → plural main

Class G
Class G is determined semantically; it comprises all nouns referring to natural features:


 * qenyar 'maple tree'
 * baskar 'tree'
 * nando 'mountain'
 * siya 'sea'
 * iwa 'river'

It's worth noting that the ending -o is relatively common: nando, the Kando river, the Ōcco river, battlo 'forest'. This set of nouns in -o form an exception to the usual rule that classify nouns in -o as class B.

Names of trees will often end in -ar: baskar, qenyar, onyar 'oak', allar 'apple tree.'

The agreement prefix is to-, short form t-. The agreement suffix is -a.

Class H
All other nouns: that is inanimate nouns that do not refer to natural features, and do not have any of the endings listed above belong to class H:


 * tlowatl 'step'
 * wecha 'writing'
 * tanqā 'learning'
 * yarān 'burden'
 * mander 'politeness'

There are no clear semantics associated to class H, but it does contain a fair number of abstractions and verbalizations.

The agreement prefix is ta-, short form t-. The agreement suffix is -a.

Dual and plural
Classes G and H merge in the dual and the plural. More precisely, the dual and plural of class G nouns switch to class H.

The dual and plural are formed by changing the last vowel to e in the dual, i in the plural. (This similar to most animate nouns) The agreement prefix is, as expected for class H, ta-, -t. The dual and plural form of the agreement suffix are -e, -i. Tosowō honyar šalla → (Dual) ''Tasowō honyer šalle. → (Plural) Tasowō honyir šalli.''

to-sowō honyar šall-a → to-sowō honyer šall-e → ta-sowō honyir šall-i

G-see tree beautiful-G / H-see tree\DU beautiful-H.DU / H-see tree\PL beautiful-H.PL

'I see a beautiful tree.' / 'I see two beautiful trees.' / 'I see beautiful trees.'

Monosyllabic nouns in class G and class H.
The monosyllabic nouns llōm 'fog', belongs to class G.

Class H, however, has quite a few of these:


 * tlal, room
 * chas, hard, hardness
 * qi, fire
 * šon, noon.

The dual is formed by suffixing -e, the plural by suffixing -i:


 * qi→ dual qie→ plural qii
 * tlal → dual tlale → plural tlali

chas is frequently used in the attributive form; it's worth mentioning that the attributive of monosyllabic nouns is formed by simply adding the agreement suffix: tlalām boyām

tlal-ām boyam

hard-E sword

'A hard sword' tlali moris

tlal-i moris

hard-A person

'A tough person'

Summary
A summary of all eight noun classes, with their endings, agreement prefixes and suffixes, and dual and plural formation is given below for reference:

Animates.
Simbri has the following pronouns for animate referents: The independant pronouns are, straightforwardly enough, independant words.

They are used for emphasis, focalization or topicalization. There are no distinct subject and oblique forms.

The prefix forms distinguish subject and oblique forms. The subject forms mark the subject of the verb; they are mandatory and must occur even if an independant pronoun is used. The oblique prefixes are used both on the verb and the noun; they are mandatory as well. qiye ši-sini

qiye ši-sini

you.sg 2-excellent-A

'You're an excellent fellow.' Siwi watlminder siwi wa-tl-minder

I 1-3-like

'I like them' The pronominal prefixes do not mark number. So watlminder can be translated 'I like them', 'I like him', 'I like her.'

First person inclusive / exclusive
Simbri has an exclusivity distinction: same, sami, and the prefixes wi- and so- specifically exclude the listener.

The fourth person.
Simbri distinguishes a fourth person, or obviate third person, as opposed to the regular, proximate third person.

Generally Simbri speakers assign the third person to the first animate mentioned. Assignment of person is then consistent in longer narrative and in conversation:

Otlebaqet sōma wannin.

o-tle-baq-et s-ōma wannin

4-3-eat-PAST 1.EXC-grandmother panther

'A panther ate my grandmother' Laya oiret?

laya o-ir-et

where 4-go-PAST

'Where did it go?' ''Poya. Wamwayim''.

poya / wa-m-w\ayim

nowhere / 1-4-PRF\kill

'Nowhere. We killed it.' The use of the fourth person is not mandatory and indeed the third person is used for all referents when the subject and object can be pragmatically inferred; the following is grammatical: Tlebaqet sōma wannin. Watlwayim.

tle-baq-et s-ōma wannin / wa-tl-wayim

3-3-eat-PAST 1.EXC-grandmother panther / 1-3-PRF\kill

'A panther ate my grandmother'

Inanimates
The following pronouns are used for inanimates (classes B to H): The independant pronouns are used for emphasis, focalization or topicalization.

The oblique prefixes are used both on the verb and the noun -- for possession. They have of course already been listed in the noun class section above.

If an animate is the subject, the fourth person subject prefix must be used: An nando otlweyam qeyi.

an nando o-tl-weyam qeyi

that mountain 4-A-kill traveller

'That mountain kills travellers.'

Interrogative pronouns
The interrogative pronouns are listed in the table below:



Relational nouns
Spatial and temporal relations, or adjuncts in general are described using relational nouns instead of prepositions or postposition.

A relational noun agrees in class (but not in number) with the noun it introduces. The construction is identicial to possession: Qān ewor tleya Enin.

qān \ewor tle-ya Enin

not IPRF\speak A-about Enin

'We don't speak about Enin' Ātlā losrām nate

ā-tlā losrām nate

E-under table cat

'The cat is under the table'. It's worth noting several relational nouns also refer to body parts: -tlā means 'under' but also 'foot'. (So ātlā losrām can be translated as either 'under the table' or 'the foot of the table.'

The connection between the relational meaning and the body part meaning is not necessarily obvious: tlešewōn 'his eye' but also 'near them, close to them': Tlešewōn tlesās Enin.

tle-šewōn tle-sās Enin

A-eye A-brother Enin

'Enin is close to his brothers' Ošewōn ōcca an wetlis.

ošewōn ōcca an wetlis

B-near porridge that book

'The books is close to the porridge' With the exception of the cardinal points, all of these nouns require a prefix: *šewōn, tlešewōn ' eye, someone's eye', *sō, tlesō 'under them.'

Table of relationals
For reference, a list of the commonest relationals is given below:

Cardinal points
Simbri uses absolute directions; there doesn't seem to be a native word for 'left' or 'right.' Simbri informants have readily borrowed -let and -rāt which they will use with English speakers -- though, interestingly, they tend to get left and right wrong -- but they prefer using the absolute terms: Šiqōl tlesādor sōrsa.

ši-qōl tle-sādor s-ōrsa.

2-north A-house 1-uncle

'My uncle's house is to your north' Ānyar losrām an wetliš.

ā-nyar losrām an wetl-iš

E-west table that book-PL.C

'The books are west of the table' The names for the cardinal points, unlike other relationals, can be used without a prefix: Yin qōl, min yin mām.

yin qōl min yin mām.

exist north and exist south

'The north is here, and the south is here'

Relational suffixes
The following suffixes, added to a noun, serve the same function as some relationals.

The suffix have distinct forms, depending on whether they're added after a vowel or after a consonant:


 * sādorji 'from the house'
 * nandoq 'from the mountains'

Order of suffixes
Relational suffixes are always placed last and can occur after the plural markers:

sādoris ' he has a house, having of a house' →sādemis 'having two houses' →sādinis 'having houses'

The locative suffix -a/-la and the origin suffix -ji/-q or -is/-s can be combined, in that order: sādinaji

sādi-na-ji

house-PL-LOC-FROM

'From the place of houses' The suffix -is/-s can be combined with the others as well: sādi-na-ji-s

house-PL-LOC-FROM

'With someone from the place of houses' sādinisa

house-PL-WITH-LOC

'Where they have houses' In noun phrases, only the head noun is marked: boyamis bonām

boyam-is bon-ām

sword-WITH king-E

'With a sword for the king'

Usage
The relational suffixes can be used to mark adjuncts or locatives: Qowtaša an wannin.

qowt-aš-a an wannin.

goat-PL-LOC that panther

'The panther is near the goats' Waiwret an posas masinis

wa-iwr-et an posas masin-is

1-talk-PAST that man fish-with

'I was talking to the man with a fish' The sets of suffixes -tl, -tli, -q, -ji seem to be in free variation:


 * Nandotl, Nandoq 'he's from the mountain'

Place and person names
The locative is also used for temporal meanings: ōjjōla 'the place where I eat', 'the time when I eat.' It is heavily used to form place names, considering the following place-names:

Kanina (place of the Erdans), Beqmorisa (place of the man-eaters), Yilla (from yinla 'place of stone'), Qecola (place of chilli peppers). Simbrila (where Simbri is spoken)

The suffixes -ji/-q, -tli, -tl form the name of inhabitants:


 * Beqmorisatl 'a man from Beqmorisa', Arjiretl (from Arjire), Lōqristli (from Lōqris)

The possessor suffix
The possessor suffix can be translated as 'owner of', 'master of':


 * Tlossasis 'lord of the castle', motašis 'owner of llamas', Qoanis Soanis 'lord of the high and the low' (ie, the supreme deity)

It can be translated as 'person of X':


 * tanqā 'learning' →tanqās 'learned man'

It is, finally, one way to translate the verb 'to have': sādoris

sādor-is

house-WITH

'he has a house' wanaches

wa-nache-s

1-cat-WITH

 ' I have a cat'.

Deictics
There are three deictic particles in Simbri: an, o, and yi

an and o
The demonstrative particle an serves as a demonstrative. There is no distinction of distance, so an may be translated as either this or that. an moris

that person

'That person.' an qowtas yeni

that goat young

'That young goat.' The particle o serves the same functions but marks, in addition, the noun phrase as obviate: tleminder seqchi, menenyer o meron

tle-minder seqchi / me-nenyer o meron

A-like monk / A.OBV-hate that baker

'I like the monk, but I don't like that baker.' It's worth keeping in mind that the difference between an and o is not necessarily connected to distance to the referred noun. an is not necessarily used for the closest object -- a noun phrased marked with an may be more distant than a noun phrase marked with o, but it may be considered proximate/third person because, for instance, it's been introduced earlier as a topic. Yin moris amwin, ennas an moris min qān o sommō šewni.

yin moris amwin, ennas an moris min qān o sommō silla

exist person there / smart that person and not that.OBV sleepy here.

'See that man over there? That's a clever guy, not like this sleepy one.'

yi
The particle yi may be translated as 'here is', 'that ... here', 'consider' or even 'behold!'. It serves the function of calling attention to a referent and introducing it as the next topic. Yi qabne

here.is poor

Look at that poor guy! Nas webtlis yi mapse, qandi tlewōnrecha nātchi.

nas we\btl\is yi mapse / qandi tle-wōn-recha nātchi

true IPRF\annoy\PL here.is young.man / always A-scare-repeat horse\PL

'Speaking of annoying people, look at that kid, always running around and scaring the horses.'

Demonstrative pronouns
The third and fourth person pronouns siwi and omi also serve as demonstrative pronouns: Ennas siwi, mesommō omi

ennas siw / me-sommō omi

clever that.3 / 4-sleepy that.4

'That one's clever, that one's sleepy.' For inanimates, the pronouns siō, siis, sija, siām, sidor, sitlo are used as demonstrative; there are no obviate forms. šallon sidor

beautiful that.F

'That's a beautiful building.'

Deictic nouns
The following table list some common deictic adverbs : These may modify clauses or noun phrases; in noun phrase they may be placed freely -- but never before an, o, yi:


 * o sommō silla / o silla sommō 'That sleepy one here'

Quantifiers
The following table lists the most common quantifiers:

These are placed in front of the noun and are invariable: masne sadin 'most houses'

yin bon 'a king, a certain king'

Tleajjet yasis motas? 'he ate an entire llama?'

Quantifier nouns and adverbs
The following quantifier nouns are related to the quantifier particles listed above: The following adverbs are derived from the quantitative particles as well:

Numbers
The Tarandim don't count on their fingers as we do. Instead they use their thumb to point at each fingerbone in turn, counting twelve fingerbones that way. Their number system, as a consequence, uses base twelve.

There's an easy way to represent zero : a raised thumb, or 'hitchhiker sign.'

It is perhaps for that reason that Tarandim already had a positional numerical system and zero very early in their history. This, and their use of base twelve have a number of consequences which we'll detail below. Cardinal numbers are formed by prefixing ta-:


 * 'Number zero', 'zeroth' → tapiyo
 * 'first' → tapoma
 * 'tenth' → taman
 * 'twelfth' → tanim

For 24 and above (20 and above in base 12), numbers are based on positional numerals:


 * 24 → 20 (base 12) → me piyo 'two zero'
 * 238→ 17a (base 12 → poma nitli man 'one seven a'

If there's more than one zero, the number of zeros is given, suffixed with -po:


 * 288 → 200 (base 12) → me mepo 'two two-zero'
 * 10368 → 6000 (base 12) → ciso binpo 'two three-zero'
 * 2985984 → 1000000 (base 12) → poma cisopo 'one six-zero'

For 10000, 100000, 1000000, the initial poma 'one' can be omitted → keccapo, linipo, cisopo

100 and 1000 (base 12 → 144, 1728 base 10) have specific names: toma, doma. These can't be used for the hundreds or the thousands: 200 (base 12): *me toma but me mepo, 6000, *ciso doma but ciso binpo. poma mepo or mepo are acceptable alternative for toma -- especially for a precise, round number; likewise for doma, poma binpo, binpo.

For large numbers and a precise count, the -po number can be given to indicate how many digits are expected:


 * 2234567 base 12 → me cisopo me bin kecca lini ciso nitli (two six-zero two three four five six seven.

Again, if the first digit is 'one', it may be omitted if followed by a -po number:


 * 13456 → keccapo bin kecca lini ciso (four-zero three four five six)

Fractions
The following fractions have specific names:

For all other fractions, the number is prefixed with the clitic de-:


 * deman, 'tenth (base 10)'
 * detoma or deme toma or demepo or depoma mepo: 1/144

For more complex numbers, only the first number is prefixed:

1/13456 → dekeccapo bin kecca lini ciso

1/2234567 → deme cisopo me bin kecca lini ciso nitli

The 'decimal point', as it were(since Simbri uses a different base, the proper term is 'radix point') is pan- (a clitic as well):

1.31 (base 12) → poma panbin poma

Agreement
Numerals and most fractions are invariable and can be treated as particle:


 * poma cisopo kadaš 'one million donkeys'
 * deman silla moris 'one fifth of the people here'

However, the fractions ending in -on are nouns, belong to class F and trigger class F, singular agreement in the noun they modify: memon silla morson, kisson silla morson

memon silla mors-on / kisson silla mors-on

half here people-F / quarter here people-F

'one half of the people here, one quarter of the people here'

Cardinal numbers
Cardinal number are formed with the prefix ta- :


 * tapiyo 'number zero'
 * tapoma 'first'
 * taman 'tenth'

tapiyon is awkward to translate; in fact the Tarandim often start counting at zero, so what would be our 'first' will be their tapiyon, and our 'second' is their tapoma, 'first': Yin min newin; omi tapiyo, niris tapoma, ennas tame.

yin min newin / omi ta-piyon / niris ta-poma / ennas ta-me

exist three owl / big CARD-zero / small CARD-one / smart CARD-two

'There were three owls. The first was tall, the second was small and the third was smart.' 'First', in English carries a connotation of 'best, excellent, highest in rank'. In Simbri, both tapiyo and tapoma carry this connotation; tapiyo even more so: Sotlatla tapoma -- min tapiyo sotlatla!

so-tlatla ta-poma / min ta-piyo so-tlatla

1-dad CARD-one / and CARD-zero 1-dad

'My dad is the best -- my dad is better.' (Lit: 'my dad is number one -- and mine is number zero ' The --rather common-- first name Piyon (from piyo) has the same meaning.

Cardinal number are ordinary nouns; when used as attributive, they must agree in class with the noun they modify:


 * tapomi moris 'the first person', tabnon sādor 'the third house'